The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host (The Host, #1)

by Stephenie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading 'soul' who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

Reviewed by layawaydragon on

1 of 5 stars

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The Host is an improvement up to a point and even without counting Twilight, I can say its not the worst thing I've read. Still do not like the writing style, it is very...bad. I'm not a great writer, but I'm an avid reader. Meyer's is a terrible writer. I can't specify exactly what the problem is with the way she writes. It's just painful to read.

The romance isn't the main focus of the book, thank god, and it is unbelievably cheesy. It's unreal. It's like the sappy fairy princess tales and their prince charming. This is suppose to be a book for adults but Meyer's romance is still stuck in lala-land.

There was also way more descriptions of the characters so we actually know who they are. Bella was a shell, plain drab, no personality with no details on how she looked in order for young women everywhere to put themselves in Bella's shoes. As if being Bella is a good thing. GAG. This doesn't happen in the book. The characters were actually characters. I was actually interested and cared about them.


This book is indeed an improvement, but considering how bad Twilight saga was...

I did enjoy this book. It's not a good book. It's not well written. There are plot holes, lack of realistic romance, lack of common sense at times and lack of logical follow through when it comes to the world building. Nevertheless, I was drawn in. My frustrations of the book was out weighted by my intrigue and caring for the people. I just wish Meyer was a better writer so I don't feel so bad for getting some enjoyment out of crappy writing.


TL;DR: Think of it as a really long fan-fic story. The romance is cheesy and unreal, but still you like the people, the world building could use some help and in the end you only lose some people's respect by getting enjoyment from someone's crappy writing. Just don't pretend this book or writer are good. They just aren't. There are so many writers and better stories, Meyer's just doesn't make the cut.

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  • 22 October, 2011: Reviewed